Castle Games

    Keywords: Culture & History, Tournament

The "castle games" were played in the Shogun's castle by the best Japanese players of the day. The first such game was in 1605. In 1628, the castle games became an official Japanese ceremony, and beginning in 1667, they were held annually. The last castle games were in 1863. After that, the turmoil of the Meiji Restoration disrupted many Japanese traditional ceremonies and institutions.

John F. There are several things wrong with this. The first castle game was in 1626. They went annual (with a few gaps) in 1664. The significance of 1667 is that was when more than one game a year was first played. The last "castle games" were not held in 1863 - it was the last castle game, singular. There were games called gozengo (games before an eminence) prior to 1626. They are not classed as castle games and none has a known date. They can be identified within a range, and 1605 is possible for at least one, but the earliest is probably in the 1590s. And I can't see what the Meiji Restoration interfered with in go terms. All the damage was done in Tokugawa times.

Shusaku is celebrated for his undefeated record in the castle games.

An interesting article about the castle games, dealing with the duties of Japanese Go and shogi players at the court of the Shogun, is at [ext] JanSteen's GoBase.

-- TakeNGive


This is a copy of the living page "Castle Games" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2004 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
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